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Thursday, 14 October 2010

A passion for Playmobil

When I was the age my daughter is now I got hooked on Playmobil. Back in the late 1970s the sets weren't anywhere near as fancy as they are today and there wasn't as much choice but they provided hours of pleasure.

My brother and I had builders, firemen, nurses, US cavalry men, knights and even Robin Hood with a longbow. We played with them so much that quite a bit of damage was inflicted on them. The ones that survived were saved by my parents and are now providing fun for our children.

My step-daughter was bought some small sets of family and house related Playmobil but she didn't play with them much on her visits to us. When my daughter was quite little my parents bought her the Noah's Ark set with all its animals. This was a great introduction to the fun that Playmobil can be.

Since then every Christmas and birthday more Playmobil has been added to the collection. We even got a lot of medieval bits third-hand which fitted in with our medieval re-enacting hobby:

These were the kind of sets I dreamt of having as a kid but we weren't allowed to have (or they didn't exist!). I still remember being jealous that my neighbour had the Playmobil pirate ship!

Now we have moved we have less space but the Playmobil keeps on being added to as my children will happily spend hours playing with it either together or separately. My parents have got the castle and large medieval pieces whilst we have the zoo and all animal and modern related sets at our house. This means the children have Playmobil where ever they are!

In the run-up to birthdays and Christmas the children compiled a wishlist of small sets of Playmobil that they would like to add to the existing pieces. We are trying to keep to the themes we currently have as there are so many different ones to choose from in the catalogue.

My daughter was really pleased with the ones she received for her birthday. All the family were impressed by the children's bedroom which even has a miniature version of the Noah's Ark included in it:

It is these little attentions to detail which help make Playmobil a firm family favourite across all the generations. I would certainly recommend anyone with children 5 and up to add some to their toy collection!

What toys do you remember from your own childhood that you want your children to play with? I would also say Lego as an essential toy for children!